Accelerated Because of K-12 Educational System

Last summer, Bea graduated from kindergarten from her school. Last June, she started going to school as a grade two student. Yes, she skipped grade one. Thanks, or no thanks to the K-12 educational system. Apparently, in the new system the child's age is critical. Grade one students should now be six years old unlike before when they should be seven years old. Since Bea celebrated her 7th birthday early this year, technically she should already be in grade two.

This school year, her school implemented a one time acceleration for their students. Bea and her classmates who are already seven or will turn seven within the year were accelerated to grade two, while those who are just six will go on as grade one students.

When we heard this announcement, we weren't quite sure if we like it or not. Sure, we'd be saving one year's worth of tuition fee but we are concerned about whether our daughter's skills are enough to tackle advanced lessons. We weren't alone in this concern, in fact a lot of parents decided to transfer their children to other schools where they will not be forced to skip a grade. Just before enrollment, the school called on the parents to inform us that we are not actually forced to skip a grade, we can choose to enroll our daughter as grade one or grade two. It's entirely up to us.  Obviously its a last ditch effort to prevent even more students from transferring.

We chose to let Bea stay on. She went through assessments set by the government and the school. She passed. She attended summer classes. Her guidance counselor assured us that she will do just fine. We chose to trust her.

It has been almost a month since Bea started 2nd grade. So far so good. =)

Bea and her Homework

Bea started attending nursery class last June, and she just loves every minute of it! It has made her feel really grown up, especially whenever she brings homework from school. This makes her feel like a “real student” and all grown up. The only problem, is as much as I would love to spend time with her and explain her lessons to her patiently, we had troubles with time constraints.

Bea sleeps early. This is something she’s been used to even as a baby (plus I’ve always doubted this as her yaya’s ploy so she can watch her prime time telenovelas early). My daughter is off to dreamland by 7:30pm. The earliest time hubby and I can arrive home is 8:00pm.So we had no choice but to do her homework in the morning. The only problem is hubby and I also had to rush to get to work in the morning, and that leaves me only 15-30 minutes to sit with my Bea and help her do her homework. It’s ok if she only has to do 1 subject, but lately she’s bringing home 2-3 home works a day with tasks varying from coloring, cutting, writing etc. This just won’t do. We had to rush doing everything. I’m not even sure whether Bea absorbed her lessons, plus I’m not as patient with her as I want to be since I keep on looking at the time, fearing I’d be late to work..

So hubby and I decided to change our strategy, we will do her homework when we get home. For two weeks now, I’ve instructed our yaya to let Bea stay up and wait for us at night. At first she kept on yawning and her eyes were all droopy, but after a few days she adjusted and was back to being her usual bubbly self again. I admire her enthusiasm in making her homework! Now we are able to do her homework at a more relaxed pace and I don’t have to rush her whenever she has to practice writing her letters or color different pictures. I can be more patient with her when she answers incorrectly. More importantly, after doing her assignments, we now have the chance to tuck her in bed, kiss her goodnight and say her night prayers with her.

Less stress, more learning. Less rush, more bonding. I guess the new strategy works! =)

From Toddler School to Big School for Bea

Last Saturday, Bea and I went to the nearby school for her interview. We decided to transfer Bea from a toddler school to a “big” school.

Initially Bea didn’t want to leave her old school. She said her old teachers will cry if she leaves. I told her she has a lot of things to look forward to in the big school: new friends, bigger classroom, new toys, but she just won’t be swayed. She still maintains she prefers her old school. That is until I said the magic word “computer”. In her new school they will be teaching the kids basic lessons about the computer. This got her really excited! “Ater!” (computer!)

Now she is excited and really looks forward to the opening of classes. She is excited at the thought that like mommy, she’ll get to tinker with computers!